The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-02-04
NO.21.


and of the cessation of all sorrow. And
then to show that this delusion will stop st
absolutely nothing, it goes TO the dying oeo
and fills the man with anticipations. How
much better it would be for him to have
him die without any more hope than swine
and rats and snakes. That 10 all. Nothing
more left OF him. He will never know any
thing again. Shovel him underI
The soul In only q superior part Of the
body, and when the body disintegrates tna
soul disintegrates. Annihilation, vacancy
everlasting blank, obliteration. Why nos
present all that beautiful doctrine 70 the
dying, instead of something with this hoax,
this swindle OF the Christian religion, and
filling the dying man with anticipations Of
another life, until some in the last hour
have clapped their hands, and some have
shouted, and some have sung, and
so-Sae have been so Overwrought
with 10y they could only look
ecstatic. fcSlace gates opening, they
thought: diamond coronets flashing; hands
beckoning: orchestraS sounding. Little
children dying, actually bcslieving they saw
their departed parents, so shat, although
the little children had been so weak ana
feeble and sick for weeks, they coSud NOT
turn on their dying pillow, at the last, N d
paroxysm Of rapture uncomfortable, they
sprang to their feet and shouted: Mother
catch mel l am comingp
And to show the immensity Of this dc
fusion, this awful swindle of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, open a hospital and bring
into that hospital the death beds OF great
many Christian people, and I take you by
the hand this morning, and walk up and
down the wards OF that hospital and l ask
a few uusssioRs. ask: "Dying stephen,
what have yot 30 sayp' "Lord Jesus, re-
ceive my spiritF Dying John Wesley,
what have you to sayp THE best Of all
is. God is with us" 'Dying Edward
Payson, what have you to sayf"
81 float in a sea of glory" "Oy-
ing John Bradford, what have yau to
sayq" "If there be any way OF
going to Heaven on horseback, or in a fiery
chariot, it is this.'' "Dying Neander,
what have you to say7" Il am going to
sleep now-good-night." dying Mrs.
Florence Foster, what have you to
saya" "a pilgrim in the valley, but
tie mountain tops all a CLEAN from
what have y0t. to say4" "The Lord who
has taken care of Gns fifty years will not
cast me of now; glory be to God and to
the Lamb Amen, amen, sfHen, amen "
dying John Powson, after preach
ing the Gospel so may years, what
have you to say4" my death-bed
is a bed of roses" "Dying DIR. Thomas
Scott, what have you to sayl" "Boys, L
am going to the front" Dying telegraph
operator on the battlefield of Virginia,
what have you to sayG' "The wires are
all laid, and the poles are up from Stony
Point to headquarters" Dying Paul,
what have you to sayG" 81 am ready now
to be offered, and the time Of my departure
is at hand; have fought the good fight,
have finished uy course. have kept the
faith. o aeAth, where is thy stingl
grave, where Is thy victoryi Thanks be
unto God, who efVeth US the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ"
o, my Lord, my God, what delusion;
what a glorious delusionl Submerge me
with it. fill my eyes and ears with IL, put
it under my dying head for a pillow-bh1s
delusion; spread it over me for canopy,
put IL underneath me for an out-spread
wiuz-roll il over me in ocean surges ten
thousand fathoms deepl o, If inhdslity,
and if atheism, and if unihilation are a
reality, and the Christian religion is de-
lusior, give me the delusioni
The strong conclusion Of every man and
woman in the bcRse is that Christianity.
producing such grand results, can not be
delusion. A lie, a cheat, q swindle, an hal
lucination can not launch such glory OF tho
centuries. Your logic and yoar common
sense convince you that a base cause can
not produce an illustrious result; out Of
the womb of such q monster no such angel
can be bcFB.
There are many IN this house this morn
ing, in the galleries SNd o. the main floor,
who began with tScs5iGg that the Chris
tian religion was stupid farce, who have
como to the conclusion that il Is q reality.
Why are you here to-dayl Why did you
sing this songl Why did you bow your
head in the opening prayerl Why did you
bring your family with you4 Why, when
tell you of the ending Of all trials in the
bosom Of God do there stand tears in your
eyes--1sOt tears Of grief, but tears Of Joy,
such as stand in the eyes of homesicz chill
Fay4 aH mrBwC hon
talks to them about going homel Why
is it that you can be 50 calmly
submissive to the death Of your
loved one, about whose departure
you once we're so angry and so rebelliousG
There is something the matter with you.
All your friends have sOund on: there is a
great change. And if sons OF you would
give your experience, you would give it in
scholarly style, and others giving your ex-
perience would give it in broken style, but
the one experience would be just good
as the other. Some of you have read
every thing. You are scientific and you
are scholarly, and yet II 1 should ask yout
fsFYhat is the most sensible thing you ever
didP' you would say: "The most sensible
thing ever did was to give my heart TO
God"
But there may be others hero who have
not had early advantages, and II they
were asked to give their experience, they
fni ght rise and give such testimony ms the
man gave in a prayer-meeting when he
said: " On fry way here tonight, met
man who asked MO where / was going. 1
said: i am going to prayer meet
ing' BE said: There arc good
many religious, and thlnk the
most of them are delusions; as to
the Christian religion, that is cnly
q notion, that Is mere notion, the Chris
tian religion / said TO him: Stranger,
you see that tavern over thereP Yes
he said, / see it, Do you see met Yes,
Of course I see YOU Now, the time was,
as every body in this town knows, that If I
had quarter Of dollar IN my pocket could
not pass that tavern without going in and
getting drink; all the people Of Jefferson
could not keep me out OF that place} but God
has changed my heart and tho Lord Jesus
Christ has destroyed my thirst for strCUg
drink, and there Is my whole weeks
wages, and have no temptation to 20 in
there; and, stranger, IL this is = notion, 1
want TO tell you IL is a mighty powerful
notion; IL is a notion that has put clothes
on my children's back, and IL is a notion
that has put good food on our table, and it
is a notion that has filed my mouth with
Thanksgiving 10 God. And, stranger, you
had better go along with me, you might
get religion, too; lots Of people are getting
religion now.'p
Well, we will soon understand IL all.
Your life and mine will soon be over. We
will soon come TO the last bar Of the music,
70 the last act Of the tragedy, 70 the last
page Of the bOok-yea, 70 the last line and
to the last word, and TO you and 70 me IL
Will either be midnoon or midnight
A Universal Sense.
The sense Of the heroic e is in all men--the
disposition TO admire the great and excep-
tional in the lives and acts of men. Life
would be very monotonous IL all men oocu-
nfr =